Out of the Frying Pan into the Fridge

If Georgia residents are having trouble keeping resolutions to lose a few pounds, they need no longer worry. They’ve got Atlanta Journal-Constitution Editorial Page Editor Cynthia Tucker looking out for them. And she’s willing to personally (or at least legislatively) barge into their kitchens to keep them in line.Tucker sees New York City’s trans fat ban as a necessary exercise in bureaucratic tough love. But according to her December 31 column, she wants to take the Big Apple’s food fascism one step further:

If you think the prospect of a state-funded patrol of nutrition police is bad, take a look at Great Britain’s MEND (Mind, Exercise, Nutrition…Do it!) program. MEND’s officers aren’t content with just vetting the contents of people’s fridges — they want to keep shoppers from buying "bad" foods in the first place. The program trains and deploys "food advisors" to wander the aisles of grocery stores and lecture customers on their purchases.What other practices will fall to the tyrannical reign of the food police in 2007? Trans fat roadblocks and obesity check points may prohibit road warriors from snacking on French fries and pastries. Movie theater marshals could carefully monitor the amount of butter issued for each container of popcorn. And elementary-school children might find themselves enrolled in a new D.A.R.E program: Donut Abuse Recovery Education.